Professor Uzi Even (Hebrew: עוזי אבן) is an Israeli professor of chemistry in Tel Aviv University and a former politician, who has made several landmark contributions to gay equality in Israel.
In the military:
In 1993 he told the Knesset that the IDF, where he served as a Lieutenant Colonel, had sacked him and removed his security clearance after they discovered he was gay. His testimony led to Yitzhak Rabin's government changing the law and regulations to allow homosexuals to serve in the army in any position, including one requiring high security clearance.
In employment:
In 1995 he successfully challenged his employer, Tel Aviv University, for spousal rights for his partner.
In politics:
A member of Meretz, he narrowly missed out on being elected to the fifteenth Knesset in 1999, but as the next placed candidate on the party's list, he became an MK when Amnon Rubinstein resigned in 2002, making him the first openly homosexual member of the Knesset.
In 2006, Even announced he was leaving Meretz and joining the Labor Party, feeling comfortable doing so after he noticed that Labor promised equality to all citizens in its election manifesto.
A member of Meretz, he narrowly missed out on being elected to the fifteenth Knesset in 1999, but as the next placed candidate on the party's list, he became an MK when Amnon Rubinstein resigned in 2002, making him the first openly homosexual member of the Knesset.
In family law:
On March 10, 2009, the Tel Aviv family court ruled that Even and his nowadays ex-partner, Amit Kama, can legally adopt their 30-year-old foster son, Yossi Even-Kama, making them the first same-sex male couple in Israel whose right of adoption has been legally acknowledged.
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